A review by faeriviera
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I love The Great Gatsby, I love racebent and queer retellings, I love lyrical writing, and I love magic realism...but for all of these interesting factors, this book didn't really click for me, and I think it boils down to the fact that the author had a TON of ideas for this story and they all ended up feling underdeveloped, partially because a lot of the book is just rewriting scenes from The Great Gatsby from Jordan's point of view rather than building on the new aspects added from Jordan now being Vietnamese, queer, and having an ability to create life from paper. It's a shame too, because I'd love to see more of this world and this Jordan. 
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